What Makes Mobile Websites So Important?

Why mobile websites outperform traditional websites

By 2014, mobile phone Internet use is predicted to make up over 50% of all Internet usage. This means that a higher percentage of your website visitors are going to be using their phones to read your site content and contact you.

 

Unfortunately, traditional websites look great on desktop and laptop computers, but often look terrible on mobile devices. Due to their smaller screen size and no keyboard or mouse, mobile phones make it difficult for users to read content, navigate, and fill out forms.

 

The good news is that making your website mobile friendly is easier than ever. As you implement a mobile website, you will see higher conversion rates and better site performance.

How does a mobile site work?

When you have a mobile site implemented, it follows these steps:

• Your website automatically detects if the visitor is using a mobile device, tablet, desktop, or laptop.
• The site displays the site version (whether mobile or normal) that is appropriate for the visitor’s device.

What makes mobile sites better than desktop sites?

• Easier to Read Content: A mobile user can scroll vertically and easily read content and images that have been formatted to fit on the smaller screen. This helps users avoid having to zoom in and out and scroll horizontally to read content (which can be a frustrating experience).
• Easier to Navigate: Menus and links can be adapted to make it easy to navigate between pages on your site.
• Faster Load Time: Mobile sites load much faster than desktop sites, which means your visitors won’t be frustrated with lengthy load times.
• Easier to Act: Forms can be adapted using radio buttons and check boxes to avoid excessive typing to fill out forms. Also, buttons can be used that allow a user to call you directly just from clicking a button!

What steps can you take to make your site mobile friendly?

Depending on your budget, you have several options for making your site look nice and function effectively on mobile devices.

• Use an inexpensive plugin or tool to adapt your site for mobile. There are many tools available (DudaMobile, Fiddlefly, etc) that adapt your current site content and functionality for mobile devices. This doesn’t allow you as many customization options, but it does give you the core functionality and benefits of a mobile site.
• Hire a company to build you a custom mobile website. While this option certainly costs more, you will have the benefits of having a completely customized site that fits your usability and visual specifications.